Up and up: UK padel and pickleball boom boosts sales | Retail

PAdel and pickleball are hot racquet sports that combine elements of tennis, squash and badminton, but the series is a whole new ball game, with sales of special racquets, paddles and wiffle balls accelerating as the Brits advance to the nearest court.

Sports retailer Decathlon reports huge demand for padel rackets, balls and accessories, as well as increased interest in the less established salt ball, prompting it to develop its own paddles. The rise of these non-traditional sports is one of the main themes of the inaugural UK Sports Trends report.

Decathlon sells equipment for more than 70 sports, and its commercial director Ross Farrington says padel came out of nowhere in 2019 and has since grown sales by 120 to 190 per cent annually, with predictions that it could become the next big entrant in the UK. Sport.

In Spain, Sweden and Portugal, there are more padel players than tennis, he says. In tennis it takes quite a long time to get to a level where you can play a good game, but in padel it can be done quickly and the walls reduce running after the ball.

A hybrid of squash and tennis, Padel uses a perforated fiberglass or graphite racket instead of a stringed racket. Decathlon alone sold 2,500 last year and offers a selection of 100 clubs to please a growing fan base with a variety of budgets. The cheapest is its own brand Kuikma 30, but Adidas’ racket costs up to 300 at the top end.

There are more and more dedicated clothes and sneakers for serious paddlers (and pickleballers) and even design options that look just like regular gym or tennis gear.

We estimate that around 10,000 people play padel regularly, so it’s still a pretty small number, says Farrington. However, given the growth curve in other countries, it could become as popular as tennis, which is played by 4 million people in the UK, Farrington says.

Pickleball, a cross between tennis, badminton and table tennis, is less established in the UK, but is the fastest growing sport on the other side of the Atlantic, with almost 5 million US players, including celebrities such as Friends star Matthew Perry and Leonardo DiCaprio. .

It is played with paddles that look like large table tennis rackets and a light plastic ball on a court similar to badminton, but the net is slightly lower. The game currently has an estimated 7,000 players in the UK, but Pickleball England aims for 25,000 members by 2025.

UK Pickleball Shop owner Jane McGuire says sales of paddles, pickleballs and nets are growing and growing. The trade has played a significant role in the development of the sport, he says, as it has given British players access to top-quality equipment available in the US. On site, the starting paddle costs 15, but it is also possible to use 250.

We also kept things running and growing during and after the shutdown by bringing pickle balls and nets outside for the players to use when all the leisure centers were closed and there was no indoor play, he adds.